The Ramadhan Diaries - Day 7

WOw, it has been 7 days into Ramadhan!

That means it has already been one week!

Which leaves us with only three more weeks until syawal....and we all know what happens when Syawal begins.... well, not all of us... but for those of who don't know, i'll leave you here in a bit of suspense :p.

However the seventh day, despite its auspiciousness (at least i think so....7th day...?) was spent by me mostly sleeping... themost productive thing i did was going to my Mandarin. Oh and i learnt some cool Mandarin Terms:

Fasting: Zhia Jie

Muslim: Hui Jiao/Yi Si Lan Jiao

Apparently Islam in China is commonly referred to as Hui Jiao, which means 'Religion of the Hui people' because apparently practically all of the Chinese from the Hui region/ethnicity are Muslim.... which makes me wonder... maybe we should start referring to Islam in Malaysia as 'Agama Melayu'....

Yi Si Lan Jiao is the proper way of addressing Islam formally in China. (Islam Religion)....Yi Si Lan - Islam... get it?

The rest of the day was spent in bed....i felt really tired...i guess...hehehe

then we had iftar, steamed Salmon head!... really good stuff.

Then at Tarawih i met my Mom's cousin...my uncle...who is my age actually... he is studying at UIA, Engineering. Strange that we don't see him often, considering that UIA is so close to my place. I guess extended family isn't really a priority for 19 year olds...

The Ramadhan Diaries - Day 6

Ok, i'll be honest, i forgot to update this yesterday!

Hahah!

And i can't, for the life of me remember what i had for Sahur, but it could have been leftovers or bread...or just dates and water... i can't really recall.

But what i do recall is that today was the first Friday of the month. For those of you who don't know, Friday is the holiest day of the week for us Muslims. So every Friday, Muslims go to the Mosque to take part in the Friday prayers, and listen to the Friday sermons. Prayers start at around afternoon, when the Sun is directly above your head. Attendance is compulsory for guys and its optional for girls.

However here in Malaysia, culture has it such that somehow girls don't even go to the mosque on Fridays...hmmm..quite strange considering Muslim Women in other countries (Saudi, Thailand, etc..) do participate in Friday prayers.

Anyways, today's Friday Sermon was about Zakat. And paying it Up!

Zakat is a form of religious tax for Muslims only. It is a religious obligation for us to pay up zakat to the proper authorities. The authorities then will use the Zakat money to support the poor and the needy in our community. I can't seem to remember though what the going rates for Zakat are lately...:p. But i do know that once upon a time, people used to pay Zakat in the form of Bags of rice.... now they just pay money.

I didn't attend Tarawih as i had classes (AGAIN!) at night.

Needless to say i was quite whacked after class

The Ramadhan Diaries - Day 5

Woke up late again this morning, however i had a rather large sahur, most of which involved me stuffing down a grilled chicken wrap from last night down my throat.

I didn;t have time to drink much water, an oversight i would soon regret during the day.

As usual, i slept in the morning, this time until about 10.30. Only waking up to go for a meet regarding one of my side projects with the project leader.

Usually i am quite psyched and pumped about such meetings but... today i felt reawlly lethargic and unmotivated...could be my empty stomach speaking.

The rest of the day i just felt thirsty. Really thirsty. So in the afternoon i pretty much bummed around, not doing anything productive really.

Iftar tonight was done at the MOsque. They usually have free iftar for everyone in the area. But the reason we went tonight was because they had Daging Kurma, Ayam Masak MErah and tomato rice. Yum!

Before 'buka' there was a lot of zikir (chanting) and prayers, the basic supplication stuff really.

Then we ate, Then we prayed, then i got back, watched some TV (Alias!!) and went to bed.

The Ramadhan Diaries - Day 4

As the days go by, its getting harder for me to discipline myself to make a regular blog entry every day... i attribute it to mainly a lack of self-discipline...

But then again perhaps im just worried that i may find that i have nothing to write about other than just boring recollections of my oh so routine life.

But lest i go on ranting, Sahur today was fairly simple, 7 dates and 7 glasses of water. Mainly due to the fact that i got up late for Sahur and i only had a few minutes to eat.

It wasn't a big deal really 'cos i had eaten a lot last night. :)

Today i helped mum in her class, i usually help out every wednesday, i am the unofficial lecturer's assistant i guess. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, other than the occasional 'Sam, help!', everything was as normal.

Later in the evening i had classes. From 6 to 9.30. Which means that i had to iftar in the middle of class. Before class i had bought some dinner (murtabak, some various kuih) with which to iftar with. My Lecturer, Sheila Williams was cool enough to give us a 20 minute break to go pray and eat. However i took a little longer than that... like maybe 25 or 30 minutes... hehehe but for the record i was eating with my non-Muslim friends...

Because of my class, i skipped Tarawih for tonight. I probably would go tomorrow.

The Ramadhan Diaries - Day 3

Today's Sahur was slightly different from those before in the sense that i stuffed my self... full. Bleah.

One Cold cut sandwich and one more sandwich amde with leftover prawns from last night.

And a few other smaller items, like dates and such.

I was really full.

After prayers, i decided to get some work done on the PC, making an effort to stay up in an attempt to score some religious brownie points. However Mum came around, telling me to go to sleep because i have class today...

Well, i guess since my mother, the person whom i should revere the most after Allah and Rasulullah, told me to go to sleep... i can't really argue can i... :p. (Rasulullah s.a.w. was quoted once when asked who is the most important person in our lives after Allah and His messenger he answered first is our mother, next is our mother, next is our mother... only then our father...-wish i could be a Mother...but then again do i really want to go through menses, childbirth, menopause and the occasional moodswing...hmm... I suppose we should all be grateful for who we are)

After waking up, i went off to class. It was a three hour audit, i found that i could sit through it quite well, perhaps with my body getting used to functioning on an empty stomach (but to be fair, it wasn't really empty then, i was still full from the heavy sahur i had :p).

After class some of my friends were planning where to go for lunch whilst i stood silently, unable to join them. *sigh*. Oh well, I got better things to do than eat lunch!

Better things like my 2 week old pile of Laundry and the sad, sorry state of my room.

So the afternoon was spent mostly doing house chores. After chores, i fell asleep.

We did not go to the mosque for Tarawih tonight, instead we stayed at and did Tarawih on our own, as a family. Tarawih is a sunat (optional) prayer which can be done anywhere...actually...

Then the rest of the night was spent referencing some theCicak stuff.

and then it was lights out!

The Ramadhan Diaries - Day 2

For Sahur, i had something a little more substantial, a croissant sandwich with cold cut meat, cheese and mayo (mmmm...cheese and mayo...)

Plus i ate a little more than usual, seeing as how i could only fit in five dates and five glasses of water.

I made an effort to stay awake after prayers but alas, after making yesterday's blog entry, i succumbed to sleep... (that means less brownie points for me!)

The day was spent tagging along with my Guru, Chin Lai to Fitness First Subang and True Fitness Sri Hartamas where i helped him run the Yoga/Yogalates classes. Some of the members were surprised to see a Muslim boy in the Gym during Ramadhan. But to quote one of the older members, he said its fine for me because I 'Have youth and energy on my side'. I guess it helps being young and healthy.

It was difficult not to notice the various attractive women in revealing gym attire... Something i should not be looking at, lest i *koff* fantasise *koff* too much :p. It wasn't difficult spending time with the aunties but every now and then comes along a pretty young thing in a sports bra...so...well...Allah forgive me...:p

The afternoon was spent rushing my final project paper to my supervisor, only to discover a few more mistakes, to rush fixing them, only to realise i forgot my Bank draft.

I went home to search for it, only to realise i lost it.

Needless to say, i got a serious shelling from my parents... not a very good way to end a day of fasting really...

For iftar, we ate at home, rice and prawns and veggies and fried fish.

Yum. Tried not to eat too much.. :)

After 8 ra'kaat (repetitions) for Tarawih, we went back.

My room was a mess, from and Islamic point of view, mess=bad. But i was too tired... so i decided to postpone my cleaning 'ibadah'(religious obligations) to the next day...

The Ramadhan Diaries - Day 1ll

The day began at 5.00 am where i ate 7 dates and drank 7 glasses of water in the wee hours of the morning.

Seven by the way is an auspicious numbers for most Muslims... we believe in Seven levels of Heaven, We circle the Ka'abah 7 times during pilgrimage etc...

But in all fairness, it doesn't make it any more luckier than the other numbers. :p

From 5.00 am until my morning prayers and until class started at 10, i didn't catch a wink. I wanted to, i so badly wanted to but i had to complete my degree project which is due for submission tomorrow.

In class, i was dropping in and out of semi-consciousness trying to keep up with the lesson. Tax Incentives aren't exactly the most exciting topic around.

We were given a lunch break of one hour... as i sat around thinking of how to kill one hour, i decided to go to the Mosque and read some portion of the Quran, something which i don't usually do often enough...

I find that my mind strays off every now and then, thinking about food...hmm...delicious food... well, i guess its better then thinking about naked women in various positions...

I broke fast with my family at my aunt's house who just got back from Brunei. Had a pretty heavy dinner.

Then we went for Tarawih.

After Tarawih, i reached home, i kept my keys and the next few hours were a blank because i woke up in my parents' bed, in my boxers. And my mum was yelling for me to go bathe and brush my teeth.

Hmmm, i'm blanking out, could be due to the fact that i haven't fasted in a while...

The Ramadhan Diaries - Intro

Salams to all my blog readers!

I have decided to embark on a mini-project of my own.

For the next 29 days or so i will chronicle the events happening in the day, up until iftar (that's 'breaking fast'/'buka puasa' for you non-Arabic types).

These Postings are dedicated to my non-Muslim friends who rub their foreheads in disbelief at our ability to forego lunch for a month (yes an ENTIRE month!!).

These postings also are intended to allow an insight into what it feels like to fast and the meanings, reasonings and logic behind it. Plus it can serve as a vivid account for those of you who want to know what it feels like to fast, but don't have the 'stomach' to do it (pun definitely intended).

So, do visit this blog regularly, perhaps you may just learn something new

Salams out!

(salams = peace)

:P

A Muslim is A Muslim is A Muslim

Yay!

Its Ramadhan!

sweet! now time to renew my vows, and set new resolutions.

So this year i want to be less hormonal and more humble.

Two things first. Although there are a few more things i would like to work on, but for now, i'll try to focus on those two things.

So in the spirit of everything good about Ramadhan, i'd like to make a little commentary about being a Muslim.

Hmmm.

Have you ever heard of such terms as 'moderate, conservative or fundamentalist' Muslims?

Come now, i'm sure you have. Like in the newspapers for example:

'Moderate Muslims seek dialogue'

'Fundamentalist Muslims take to the streets'

Which then brings me to my issue:

Why is it that we have such polarising terms to separate siblings amongst siblings? (i us e the term 'siblings' 'cos its more politically correct :p)

Personally its these terms which i feel isolate us from one another, which allows us to commit acts of violence in the name of the religion.

Take for example:

If i have been labeled as a fundamentalist Muslim, i would find myself ostracised by the 'moderate' Muslims. Then i would start going to 'fundamentalist' gatherings, listen to 'fundamentalist' leaders and then start believing that i really am fundamentalist.

As for the 'moderates', they pride themselves on not being as fanatic as the 'fundamentalists' but they don't realise what the root of the problem is.

Moderate basically means, balanced, in-between, non-excessive, non-lacking..

Fundamentalist basically means, one who believes in fundamentals, the basics and has strong foundations and belief.

Going by those definitions i would like to call myself a Moderate Fundamentalist... or Fundamental Moderate... hmmm...

My point is that, why should such terms even exist? They create a culture of separation from one another.

Both 'moderates' and 'fundamentalists' feel that they are better, even holier than each other. They decry the actions of one another. No matter what each other does, they make it a point to get agitated by one another.

So why then even have such terms?

A Muslim is A Muslim is A Muslim.

Allah has sent down His Word to us through Rasulullah s.a.w. complete.

Yes, complete. (i wish i could quote the exact verse but i don't have it off-hand :p)

Complete meaning that the guidelines have been set, and they should be followed.

No where does it mention any delineation between 'moderates' and 'fundamentalists'.

If you admit to being Muslim then there are a set of Guidelines which aren't too difficult to follow.

It does not matter if you follow these guidelines strictly or whether you choose to do any extra 'sunat' religious stuff to get extra religious brownie points. That is between Allah and yourself.

So if you are a Muslim, or a follower of any other religion for that matter, stop labeling yourselves as 'religious or non-religious', 'practicing or non'practicing', 'moderate or fundamentalist'.

If you are a Muslim, then you are a Muslim.

Thinking About Religion

Let us take a moment to ponder,

We all believe in the same things

We all believe there is a greater power governing us

So, why is it that all of us, despite our common beliefs still can't seem to find common ground with each other.

I firmly believe that there is a greater power, one that holds power over us all. And i believe that all the world's major religions believe in the same thing too.

This is evidenced by the prevalence of a 'God' or a 'Greater Power' figure in all our beliefs.

Further more, consider this:

All religions condemn murder

There isn't a single religion which permits stealing

Lying is always a sin with all religions

I can think of a lot more similarities, this list is not exhaustive.

yet there are those out there who would go so far to make public statements, condemning the beliefs of others.

As a Muslim, if i were to make fun of my Buddhist friend, i would only be making fun of my Religion because Buddhism and Islam share a lot of things in common: for example: Alcohol is frowned upon in both our religions, and we both preach acceptance of others.

Lets be honest, who knows for sure whether or not we are going to heaven or hell, so how can we start passing judgement on others, claiming that they will go to hell or heaven. That decision lies in God's hands alone.

The only person we should worry about going to heaven is ourselves. And we won't be able to get there questioning other people's beliefs.

So rather then let our different methods of approaching God seperate us, let us hold true to the universal goodness that all of us share.

Awekz Orang

Ok, an open question to you all out there:

Is it right to 'kacau' someone else's girlfriend?

I mean, like, is it all right to hit on her/mengorat her?

Kinda like flirt with her, but with intention to win her heart and make her dump her bf... or be the cause of the break-up..

Eheh

Yeah,

That's where i am now. There is this gurl, whom i find to be quite fun and attractive, problem is that she has a boyfriend... and they have been going out for sometime lah. So generally long-term relationships are a bit hard to break.

So she is fun and cute and spontaneous and intelligent.. bla..bla..bla.. i find her extremely attractive basically. But it seems that she is quite close/clingy to her bf. The whole 'using her bf punyer handphone' and getting him to drive her around kind of close. So i can tell that it would be quite difficult for a third party (me) to cari peluang with her.

So there are a few possible options:

1: I make an active effort to drive a wedge between them (villify her bf/make him jealous)

2: I make an active effort to win her heart (whatever makes her heart melt)

3: Wait and hope and pray to God that they will break up

4: Find her boyfriend another girlfriend and hope that she finds out...

Hmmm, so i consider my options, though im not sure which one would be the best way to go around doing it....

so i plan my strategy...

or maybe i should just stick with option 3 and not do anything... after all, is it even right to win over someone else's girlfriend?

WOW, People actually read my Blog??!!

Before i go on any further, i would like to thank all of you who have diligently come to check out my random ramblings on this humble blog of mine.

Now, allow me to explain the reasons behind what i write on my blog.

You see, its my personal blog. And being a personal blog, i don't usually expect people to read it...eheh

Its like my diary lah. Its where i store my thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Whenever something is bothering me, whenever i need to get something off my chest, i write it on my blog. Its Therapeutic for me really. It helps me clear my mind and think clearly.

So whatever you see here on my blog are things which have been bothering me for a while. Once i can't take the pressure anymore, i write it on my blog.. i transfer my problems into this blog.

Now, i did not expect that people would come to read my blog. Never had it ever occured to me that i would have a small following to my blog...

So when i write in my blog, i just write whatever comes to mind, without editing it and without caring the effects it may have on anyone who reads it.

Which brings me to my point:

Yes, obviously my previous post has sent many tongues wagging about the 'good little kid' who suddenly seems like a hormonal teenager.

Well, first of all, i was bothered with those 'evil' thoughts of mine, so i had to write it on my blog so i could get it out of my mind.

Secondly, my fantasies are my own. Don't let it bother you lah! Above all else, i still am a Muslim and i know how to conduct myself around women and girls. I have personal limits which i set for myself. Heck, i even get disgusted by couples who kissy-face in public.

Thirdly, grow up!! At some point in our lives we all have thought about sex and at some point we will do it. Its natural, its our fitrah. God made us such that by instinct we want to reproduce. But of course, the mind must suppress these desires and only allow them when necessary. So to suppress it, to clear it out of my system , i wrote about it.

So, i would like to apologise to all those who were shocked by my post.

But it is still staying up, im not going to delete it. It still is a part of my history.

So, once more, pardon my writing. In the future, i shall for general public consumption...

And once more, thanks for reading my blog... although now i have to be a bit more careful what i put in it.... :p

Anyway, i hope that helped to clear things up!

till the next post then!

Doing what's right, doing what's ...uhmm....

OK, i am done apologising for not posting much on my blog, knowing full well that it does not get that much traffic anyway...

But for the record, this is the first time in this month i have posted anything, so , here goes:

Lately i have been having thoughts, and i have been indulging in them, thoughts which are ... uhm... 'questionable' to say the least. Ok, fine my hormonal teenage mind has been riddled with fantasies of sex (the straight type.. phewh!). Yeap. Sex

Oooh, taboo.

Anyway, lest i get into details, i have satisfied myself...by myself of course. Fortunately there hasn't really been any real opportunity for me to go all 'evil'. Although, im not very sure how i would react if presented with the opportunity (read: sexually attractive member of the opposite sex cornering me into doing it).

As i continue to 'layan' these thoughts, i find myself having all these weird fantasies...

Now i am presented with a choice:

Instead of waiting for an opportunity, i could go out looking for one

Or

I could remain a fairly good Muslim and keep my pants up... until i get married

Hmhmhmhmh...

The first option seems fairly tempting, though i wouldn't really know where to start looking

The second option remains tried and true. I could keep it up until marriage... i suppose...

This whole hormonal journey has taken its toll on my professional life. I seem to be losing track of projects and studies. Which is bad really. Sometimes i wonder if i actually had sex with some girl would that satisfy my hormone-driven curiousity. Or it could backfire and i could get addicted....

Hmmmm....

I think i'll stick with the Whole 'be a good Muslim' option. Its safer.

But presented with the opportunity...

Well, i just hope im a good enough Muslim.

I suppose it all boils down to a matter of willpower.

Do i have the will to do what is right?

Or do i succumb to what's ..uhmmm... 'wrong'?

Probably ill stick to right... its a lot safer...